Hancock (film)

Hancock is a 2008 American superhero film directed by Peter Berg based on a screenplay by Vince Gilligan and Vy Vincent Ngo. The film stars Will Smith as John Hancock, an amnesiac, alcoholic, reckless superhuman trying to remember his past. The film also stars Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman and Eddie Marsan.

The story was originally written by Vy Vincent Ngo in 1996. It languished in development hell for years with various directors attached, including Tony Scott, Michael Mann (who would later co-produce the film), Jonathan Mostow and Gabriele Muccino, before being filmed in mid-2007 in Los Angeles with a production budget of $150 million.

In the United States, the film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America after changes were made at their request in order to avoid an R rating, which it had received twice before. Columbia Pictures released the film in theaters in the United States on July 2, 2008. While Hancock received mixed reviews from critics, who found it promising, but let down by the mid-movie change in tone, it grossed $629.4 million worldwide, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2008.